George
George, 33, is from India. He has been in Britain for seven years, working all
the time in the same supermarket, paying taxes.
In 1999, he married his Scottish girlfriend in a Catholic church in India, and
came to Britain with her to make a new life. But the marriage did not go well.
After four months, she told him the marriage had been a mistake, and that he
should leave her house. After his divorce, he was advised to write to the Home
Office to regularise his status. He sent two letters, both by recorded delivery,
to the Immigration Authorities but received no reply.
By this time he had begun working in the supermarket, where he has been ever
since, sending home – regular as clockwork - $50 a month to help his ageing
mother. As his supermarket says in a letter, he is a highly valued employee,
reliable and hardworking.
Suddenly last month, after seven years, as part of a general review, the supermarket
asked him to prove he has the right to work. If he cannot prove it, he will be
out of a job.
Why doesn’t he just go back?
“A lot of things have changed in India since I left,” he says. “Now
you need decent skills – IT training and so on. There is nothing for me
there now. This is my home.”
England, he says, “is a good country. It’s a country where you can
make a new life.”
He is looking for a lawyer now to help make the case for him, but is overwhelmed
at the cost. Half of his salary will go on legal fees, “and I don’t
know what’s at the end of it all”.
George feels depressed and stressed. He had plans for a better job and to develop
his skills. But right now all that has vanished.
“
Right now,” he said, “I just need some certainty.”
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